Broadband Internet is apparently a class-based utility, a privilege of the wealthy and educated. There has been a lot of talk about the Pew Internet and American Life Project's release of its latest study on home broadband adoption. Some groups have used the opportunity to focus on immediate trends in racial, ethnic, age, and rural vs. urban adoption of broadband internet service. However, there are two larger, more important "big picture" issues that should not be ignored, and are essential to assessing the current broadband Internet situation in the United States.

1) The Internet is still a class based utility and service, readily available in the best quality to the wealthy and highly educated, and only marginally available to those who are poorer and less educated.

2) American broadband Internet service continues to lag behind the world in connection speeds, overall penetration of the population, and price.

The clearest divide in adoption of broadband among groups in the United States is along economic and educational lines. For instance, 76% of Americans with an annual income above $75,000 have broadband Internet connections, compared to only 30% of those with an income of $30,000 or less. As to education, 70% of Americans with a college degree have broadband Internet connections compared to 21% of those without a high school degree.

This highlights the fact that while there is legitimate concern about "net neutrality" (ensuring websites and services being treated fairly and equally by the network providers who connect websites and Internet services and their users) in terms of those who are already seated at the Internet table, there are still large gaps in the of the population not even connected to the Internet. While the Internet may not be a physical necessity like water, it is either quickly becoming, or already has become, like electricity, a social, cultural, and (perhaps most importantly) an economic necessity to be a full part of modern society in a developed country.

This is especially true for young people. Unfortunately, this gap in access for the economically and educationally underserved is eerily reminiscent of our two tiered, apartheid educational system.

Even taken as a whole, it is no secret that America is lagging behind broadband connection speeds and penetration rates worldwide. For instance the PEW study shows 71% of Americans have internet connections of any type, and only 47% have broadband connections. Another study from May of 2007, by ITIF, shows broadband penetration in the U.S. at similar levels, or .51 subscribers per household. The leading nations are South Korea with a rate .90, Iceland with a rate of .83, and the Netherlands with a rate of .73 per household. So the leading nations have broadband penetration rates higher than even the United States total Internet penetration rate.

The average broadband connection speed in the United States is 4.4(mbps) (DSL and Cable in the US are significantly slower than this), versus 61.0 in Japan, 45.6 in Korea, 21.7 in Finland, and 18.2 in Sweden.

And if you think users are paying premiums in these countries for higher speed broadband connections, think again. Cost per 1 mbps in the U.S. is $3.33. Cost in the countries listed above is as follows; Japan- $0.27, Korea- $0.45c, Finland- $2.77, and Sweden- $0.63.

Other important points from the PEW study:

• Broadband adoption has slowed to a crawl of 12%, down from a 40% growth rate from March 2005 to March 2006. (a separate study from Point Topic and OECD supports this contention)

• Rural broadband access at home OR work is only 38% compared to 56% suburban and 58% urban access to a broadband connection at home or work.

• 91% of all Internet users send or read email.

• Only 9% of all Internet users have ever made an online phone call.

• 29% have read someone else's online journal or blog

• Only 12% have ever created or worked on their own blog; and

• Only 17% have ever taken material they found online and mixed it into their own artistic creation.

See the whole PEW study here:

http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Broadband%202007.pdf

Other studies referenced and websites on this issue:

http://www.websiteoptimization.com/bw/0704/
http://www.websiteoptimization.com/bw/0705/
http://www.leichtmanresearch.com/
http://www.netratings.com/
http://point-topic.com/